VOLUME 28 MARCH LIBRARY HI TECH NEWS NUMBER 2 2011

NUMBER 2

2011

AN EMERALD PUBLICATION

CONTENTS
Conference report
Mobile Digital Library in The National Library of Norway . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Mobile Digital Library in The National Library of Norway

Jingru Hivik

Features
Analysis of information technology (IT) applications in academic libraries in Kuwait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 How to create new services between library resources, museum exhibitions and virtual collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Advocacy for open access: a selected review of the literature and resource list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Purpose Digital curation means to select, preserve, maintain and make available digital assets. But professional curation in the digital age goes beyond the mechanics of ordering, meta descriptions and delivery. As digital expression and digitized representations are available as full text in rich and multimodal formats and as they might be embedded in similarly rich contexts through mashups and remixes, the curator is confronted with new challenges. The specialized patron and the general public demand several access mechanisms like lters and search proles, browsing, traversals of interesting predened paths as well as contextual and dramaturgical support for the process of impartment. The purpose of the work that I report on here is to investigate and improve access to digital assets at the Norwegian National Library based on one particular requirement: It should be achieved using a mobile phone. The project is thus part of a growing effort towards transliteracy, namely to develop the abilities to read, to write and otherwise communicate and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media.

Background: digital assets at national library of Norway The National Library has a varied and extensive collection of Norways documentary heritage dating back to the fourteenth century. Since it is technology independent, Norway has one of the worlds most modern legal deposit acts. All textual materials that are produced for public consumption are supposed to be deposited there by order of law. Based on this Act relating to the Legal Deposit, the library is building a collection that includes manuscripts, books, music, radio and TV programmes, lm, theatre, maps, posters, pictures, photographs, internet documents and newspapers. As Norways memory bank the National Library is now digitizing all its collections, including material that is still under copyright protection. Some European countries have also started digitizing parts of their national cultural treasures, but so far no other national library has plans to digitize their entire holdings. We are thus the rst National Library in Europe to take on this huge challenge, not only for the preservation of materials for posterity, but also to make as much content as possible available on the web.

Column
Current cite-ings from the Popular and Trade Computing Press . . . 24

274

New & Noteworthy . . . . . . . . Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

26

33

Library Link
www.emeraldinsight.com/librarylink

Library Hi Tech News Number 2 2011, pp. 1-8, q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419051111135218

ISSN 0741-9058

LIBRARY NEWS

HI TECH

Emerald Group Publishing Limited Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, United Kingdom Tel +44 (0) 1274 777700 E-mail emerald@emeraldinsight.com
For more information about Emeralds regional offices please go to http://info.emeraldinsight.com/about/ offices.htm Customer helpdesk: Tel +44 (0) 1274 785278; Fax +44 (0) 1274 785201; E-mail support@emeraldinsight.com Web www.emeraldinsight.com/customercharter Orders, subscription and missing claims enquiries: E-mail subscriptions@emeraldinsight.com Tel +44 (0) 1274 777700; Fax +44 (0) 1274 785201 Missing issue claims will be fulfilled if claimed within six months of date of despatch. Maximum of one claim per issue. Hard copy print backsets, back volumes and back issues of volumes prior to the current and previous year can be ordered from Periodical Service Company. Tel +1 518 537 4700 E-mail psc@periodicals.com For further information go to www.periodicals.com/ emerald.html

Editors Martin Kesselman Library of Science and Medicine, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA Laura Bowering Mullen Behavioral Science Librarian, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA Publisher Ruth Heppenstall Contributing Editors Heidi Hanson Systems Librarian, N.A. McKeldin Library, University of Maryland, USA Elizabeth Stewart Marshall Assistant Director of Library Systems User Services Development OhioLink, Columbus, OH, USA

Reprints and permission service For reprint and permission options please see the abstract page of the specific article in question on the Emerald web site (www.emeraldinsight.com), and then click on the Reprints and permissions link. Or contact: Copyright Clearance Center- Rightslink Tel +1 877/622-5543 (toll free) or 978/777-9929 E-mail customercare@copyright.com Web www.copyright.com No part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the text, illustrations or advertisements. The opinions expressed in the articles are not necessarily those of the Editor or the publisher.

Emerald is a trading name of Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Printed by Apple Tree Print Services Ltd, Davy Road, Denaby Main, Doncaster DN12 4LQ

Indexed and abstracted in: Current Abstracts Current Index to Journals in Education INSPEC Library and Information Science Abstracts Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA) Scopus The Informed Librarian
Copyright Library Hi Tech News # 2011 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Printed on recycled paper

Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Howard House, Environmental Management System has been certified by ISOQAR to ISO14001:2004 standards

Awarded in recognition of Emeralds production departments adherence to quality systems and processes when preparing scholarly journals for print

www.emeraldinsight.com/lhtn.htm
As a subscriber to this journal, you can benefit from instant, electronic access to this title via Emerald Management Xtra. Your access includes a variety of features that increase the value of your journal subscription. Reference linking Direct links from the journal article references to abstracts of the most influential articles cited. Where possible, this link is to the full text of the article. E-mail an article Allows users to e-mail links only to relevant and interesting articles to another computer for later use, reference or printing purposes. Structured abstracts Emerald structured abstracts provide consistent, clear and informative summaries of the content of the articles, allowing faster evaluation of papers.

How to access this journal electronically

Our liberal institution-wide licence allows everyone within your institution to access your journal electronically, making your subscription more cost-effective. Our web site has been designed to provide you with a comprehensive, simple system that needs only minimum administration. Access is available via IP authentication or username and password. To benefit from electronic access to this journal, please contact support@emeraldinsight.com A set of login details will then be provided to you. Should you wish to access via IP, please provide these details in your e-mail. Once registration is completed, your institution will have instant access to all articles through the journals Table of Contents page at www.emeraldinsight.com/0741-9058.htm More information about the journal is also available at www.emeraldinsight.com/lhtn.htm Emerald online training services Visit www.emeraldinsight.com/help and take an Emerald online tour to help you get the most from your subscription.

Additional complementary services available

When you register your journal subscription online you will gain access to additional resources for Authors and Librarians, offering key information and support to subscribers. In addition, our dedicated Research, Teaching and Learning Zones provide specialist How to guides, case studies, book reviews, management interviews and key readings. E-mail alert services These services allow you to be kept up to date with the latest additions to the journal via e-mail, as soon as new material enters the database. Further information about the services available can be found at www.emeraldinsight.com/alerts Emerald Research Connections An online meeting place for the world-wide research community, offering an opportunity for researchers to present their own work and find others to participate in future projects, or simply share ideas. Register yourself or search our database of researchers at www.emeraldinsight.com/connections

Key features of Emerald electronic journals

Automatic permission to make up to 25 copies of individual articles This facility can be used for training purposes, course notes, seminars etc. within the institution only. This only applies to articles of which Emerald owns copyright. For further details visit www.emeraldinsight.com/copyright Online publishing and archiving As well as current volumes of the journal, you can also gain access to past volumes on the internet via Emerald Management eJournals. You can browse or search these databases for relevant articles. Non-article content Material in our journals such as product information, industry trends, company news, conferences, etc. is available online and can be accessed by users.

Emerald Customer Support

For customer support and technical help contact: E-mail support@emeraldinsight.com Web www.emeraldinsight.com/customercharter Tel +44 (0) 1274 785278; Fax +44 (0) 1274 785201

LIBRARY HI TECH NEWS

Number 1 2011

We also preserve original broadcasts and other digital communication forms that are publicly available. All broadcasters with a public licence in Norway deliver copies of their programmes for preservation. Up to now there has been extensive collaboration between national broadcaster, NRK and the Library. The programmes of four radio channels are transferred every night. The National Librarys policy is to reach users wherever they are. With 18 million page views on the web per year, the Library covers all different kinds of users, not only in Norway but all around the world as well. We have rich and valuable digital collections. But one limiting factor is that our web site at: http://nb.no is less than optimal for others than those who are positioned in front of their personal computers. The growing number of mobile users should be taken better care of. Mobile access The use of mobile phones as multimedia devices and for Internet access is on the rise. With a global average of more than 60 cell phones for every 100 individuals, some countries like Taiwan and The Netherlands have more mobile phones than they have inhabitants. In poor areas of the world, there is a growing trend that several individuals share access to one phone. This has economic repercussions as the phone system becomes a vehicle for monetary transfers in addition to traditional and new forms of information exchange. In 2009, for the rst time ever, mobile phones were used more for accessing data than to make calls. Increasingly users will want to access information services wherever they are while on the road, in airports and cafes, on their way to work, school and university. The traditional way of delivering information to the user is insufcient, people need to access information anytime and anywhere. How does the National Library position itself within this context? The Librarys goal is to be a core player for the entire Norwegian Digital Library. The Library positions itself as a multimedia centre of knowledge and strives to be among Europes most exciting and modern library

institutions. This implies that the Library must extend its services to the emerging mobile platforms. This situation is also what motives the current project work. In the following I give a more technical background. Mobile platforms There are several platforms competing for dominance in todays mobile market. Among the more important we nd the Palm system, Nokia with Symbian-oriented platforms, Apples iPhone, Microsoft Windows Mobile and Googles Android. For this project we have chosen Googles Android as the main development and test platform. Kindle, iPhone and other popular types will be tested and partly covered as well. The Android platform Android is the rst truly open platform for the modern mobile devices. It includes a Linux-based operating system, a comprehensive library of pre-programmed software modules and an extensive application programmers interface for developers, all of the software needed to develop and run applications on a mobile phone. Since the software is open-source and freely available, there are no proprietary obstacles that hinders mobile innovation. It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language and also with support for declarational XML, and controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries. In a few years, Android is expected to be a major platform for application developers. Towards a mobile national library a prototype m.nb.no The National Librarys web site at: www.nb.no plays an essential role in Norways online library services. Based on FAST technology the library supplies users a cross-collection search within its database systems. This project aims to develop a visual web site prototype m.nb.no. It will be accessible and designed for mobile phone and PDA users and will be based on the www.nb.no web site.

Figure 1 shows the structure of the project. We will design and implement a visual web site prototype that provides services like mobile written search, text/voice input to the database, mobile photo display (single and sequencing display), etc. Examples are:
.

. .

Picture slide show on mobile devices with multi-touch manipulation and location data exchange. User/patron-provided pictures and voice-over/comment into the librarys database via mobile phone. Location based information search. Interface to mobile multimedia presentation from library collections. Building National Librarys mobile user network/community with investigation of usage modes, particularly in educational contexts.

User feedback To enhance the explorational and curational character of this work, a mobile user community network will be developed based on voluntary user registration under the m.nb.no tree. This will give the framework for targeted tests and investigations of usage modes, particularly in educational contexts. Ad hoc feedback from the user network in Norway, inputs from national and international partners and the analysis of targeted user surveys and interviews will be used to improve the prototype content and interaction models. Mobile web content What is the important and necessary content for mobile users?
.

Elite edition. A mobile web site should not only be a portable edition of the ordinary desktop version, but also an elite edition, a well curated, selected and organized version. Sampling. A mobile web version should provide samples and illustrations of the capabilities of the full websites that are not (yet) optimized or amenable for mobile access.

Library Hi Tech News Number 2 2011

Figure 1.
.

Client pull (c_pull). The client sends a query to the server which returns the relevant info/content page back. As a user provides an URL or type in search words, the server sends back the relevant information. Server pull (s_pull). We can send online questionnaires to mobile users via a server. Mobile users may give their answers at anytime and anywhere. Server push (s_push). The s_push model is normally used for multicasting information to user groups, such as mass mailing, news/newsletters, announcement of new books, and software updates, etc. Client push (c_push). A mobile user may push relevant content (back) to a servers database, for example images, comments, etc.

Composite modules As one example consider the combination c_pull c_push c_pull (Plate 1). This is an online puzzle game solution for the rst printed Northern map in 1,482 (National librarys collection). When an m-user enters this page, he may try to place the puzzle pieces to the correct position. If he passes the game, he will get more information about this old map and discover that Sweden was called

Interface. A mobile front-end may act as an interface, guide and reference to the general repositories. Standard web pages may carry huge information loads and some contents may not interest or are unsuitable for mobile users. Polyvalence. Eventually, the same web page should be accessible, informative and enjoyable using different screen formats for the palm, the lap, the desk and entire walls. One approach may be to divide the page into several blocks by subject for example, and execute reorganizing mechanisms that recreate a wide display into hierarchical structures. Unnecessary blocks should then be removed in a mobile version.

Mobile web display There are basically two types of content delivery modes for mobile access: pull and push (Figure 4): Figure 2.

Figures 2 and 3 show the relationship between the National librarys web index page, sub-index page and one of the categories index page on the mobile version.

Library Hi Tech News Number 2 2011

Figure 3.

transferred to one out of two different entry points: (1) PC users will be transferred to a page with a layout as rendered in Figure 5(a). On this page the PC users can experience how the page looks inside a mobile screen. (2) And mobile device users will be transferred to a page specially designed for the smaller screen and common usage contexts of mobile users. The page layout is sketched in Figure 5(b). The application server will recognize which functions should be carried out by a JavaScript. A ash video will be made to guide users how to use the mobile site m.nb.no. For these development and testing purposes an SQL database prototype has been created as a subset a database projection of NBs main database. Plate 2 shows a search test screen. The Android system itself comprises a SQLite client. SQLite is popular choice for the database engine in cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, set-top boxes, and other electronic gadgets. SQLite has a small code footprint, makes efcient use of memory, disk space and implements a self-contained, serverless, zero-conguration, transactional SQL database engine. Android uses this to maintain an embedded repository for local data like phone numbers, pictures, etc. Server-side data and functions are presented to the Android client as a document object model (DOM) instantiation that are enhanced by run-time scripts (Javascript). A separate JAVA process on the Android device communicates with these scripts and may thus integrate the underlying SQLite repositories with DOM content. In this project, the SQLite mechanism will here be used to develop and test intermediate storage features in conjunction with the m.nb.no services. One example might be that users may need short-term storage of lowerresolution pictures and sound bites, etc. for ofine rendition. Googles Voice Search application, which is pre-installed on many Android devices, provides powerful features like search by voice. Android 2.1 introduces a voice-enabled keyboard,

Figure 4.
pull push

c_pull c: client

s_pull s: server

c_push

s_push

Plate 1.

Suecia and Norway Norbegia at that time. In more detail: m.nb.no When users visit our main web site www.nb.no, a JavaScript will work on the sever side. According to relative

data analysis, device type, operating system, etc. automatically identify devices. If it is a mobile device, it will be sent directly to the mobile site m.nb.no. As a user enters the web site m.nb.no, he or she will be automatically

Library Hi Tech News Number 2 2011

Figure 5.

size image. Similar functions will be available for multimedia searches. A group pictures Plate 3(a)-(e) show an example on a ash photo presentation based on a mushroom hand drawing book. We can browse pictures by click small icon pictures on left or right, and choose one (Plate 3(a) and (b)), use nger sweeping functions to zoom in and out, and moving from side to side (Plate 3(c)). Plate 4(a) and (b) shows turn the page functionality by a nger swipe on an Android mobile phone.
(a) (b)

Case studies Plate 2. The following two cases illustrate two relevant and leisurely usage modes that will be made possible by this project. They supplement professional use like preparations for a school or university lecture, online access to classical texts on a long train-ride, etc. Case 1: location-based information Based on the location services provide from the Norwegian telecom company Telenor or Android location system, for instance within the nearest 2 to 5 km of the users position, a mobile phone may combine localization data with other search parameters and retrieve material that carries geographical information or metadata. In return, the user receives materials as a location collection package. Visitors to the Ekeberg hill at the perimeter of downtown Oslo with its popular restaurant overlooking the city may for instance turn their attention from the view of the new opera building to the towns history. Through localized search, the mobile phone may display a slideshow of pictures taken from this hill by the early photographers Axel Lindal and Anders Beer Wilse dating to the towns rapid expansion in the 18801905 period. Users may also retrieve relevant information about the opera building they admire or other architectural achievements by the Snhetta architects like Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. They might even use the phone to take pictures of themselves and annotate the original material or their own contribution and send it back to the librarys photo database Galleri NOR.

which makes it even easier to stay connected. This project is in an attempt to nd a solution so that musers can speak to their phone to give comments in which they would normally type. Photo/image display on m.nb.no The mobile search function is based on standard conventions for text-based searches using free format or structured searches, but adjusted for the smaller screen. M-users can reach the NB photo

collections in two ways as predened slide shows or as discrete photo search. A ash photo presentation has been developed that fetches an image list in XML format and will give visual and tactile support for nger sweeping functions. Discrete photo searches will bring up a group of images which matched with the search word that user has typed in, and display small image icons with titles. Each icon will point to its relative large-size image. M-users could sweep their nger up and down to watch large-

Library Hi Tech News Number 2 2011

Plate 3.

Mobile user network Michael Wesch, a professor of anthropology at Kansas State University, says in his hugely popular presentation to the Library of Congress (available as a YouTube video):
The web is no longer just linking information. Web 2.0 is linking people, in the way we have never linked before. Well need to rethink a lot of things [. . .].

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

Plate 4.

(a)

(b)

Case 2: individualised history The National Librarys rich collection of historical material may be put to relevant use in individual biographies. To celebrate an important birthday, a farewell-party at the workplace or other moments of remembrance, a user may search and download a collection of historically relevant items like a batch of Christmas postcards, a few newspaper

clippings, a radio talk show, newsreels or the early televised news all from a particular year in the past. The material is sequenced on the phone and then displayed for all those present using the phones built-in or accompanying pocketsize projector. To round off, the entire presentation is wirelessly transferred not only to the guest of honour, but to all of them.

From a systemic point of view, we focus here on some basic elements of the traditional and emerging elements of the library system as a whole (Figure 6). The traditional libraries concentrate mainly on the elements to the left, i.e. the physical library with its stacks and open-shelves collections and facilities for reading and listening are used as the base to provide one-way services to the patrons. Libraries in the digital age, on the other hand, have to pay more attention to the elements on the right in this illustration as well as their role within the larger cycle. They must take into account users in their individual roles but also as members of a wide variety of networks, the interactivity of services that also encompass active and concurrent feedback from patrons, the library as both a physical and a virtual place and, nally, a strategy and a design that integrates all these elements. One emergent feature with consequences for the latter design and development work is precisely the mobile dimension of online access. As initial and supplemental steps to developing the retrieval and display mechanisms, the current project will also be used to gain experience in building user networks and feedback loops. The mobile network patrons may here share comments and blogs with each other, chat with librarians and give systematic feedback on usage patterns in informal contexts (as illustrated earlier) and formal settings (like school work, university studies, etc.) The library can use such networks to distribute news, journal and book information regularly to their registered mobile users, carry out appropriate surveys and evaluations. Such feedback is not of value for the mobile services only, but also for a

Library Hi Tech News Number 2 2011

Figure 6.
Service/ self-service Collection

Ratschiller, T. and Till, G. (2000), Web Application Development with PHP 4.0, New Riders.
Person (user)

Sun Microsystems: Sun Developer Network (SDN) (n.d.), Ofcial JAVA SE Website available at: http://java.sun.com/javase/ Trachtenberg, A. and David, S. (2003), PHP Cookbook, OReilly.
User network

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Place (library)

Internet

much wider range of National Library services including the main: www.nb. no portal. In this way an m-user network may become an important asset for the library institution as a whole.
FURTHER READING

reasoning, Journal of Experimental and Theoretical AI, Vol. 11, pp. 479-96. Brunette, E. (2008), Hello, Android: Introducing Googles Mobile Development Platform, Pragmatic Bookshelf. Google Inc. (n.d.), Android Developers, available at: http://developer.android.com/ Greeneld, A. (2006), Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing, New Riders, Berkeley, CA. Halpin, T. and Tony, M. (2008), Information Modeling and Relational Data bases, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, CA.

Becker, C. and Christian, D. (2005), On location models for ubiquitous computing, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Vol. 9, I, pp. 20-31. B, K. and Agnar, A. (1999), A new approach to applicable memory-based

Jingru Hivik is educated as a Librarian and an Electrical Engineer. She has a Masters degree in Library and Information Science in Norway, and is currently following a professional doctoral level programme at Oslo University College. She works as a Chief Engineer at The National Library of Norway. Her current tasks covers web design, database development, FLASH presentations and programming with an emphasize on mobile computing in order to make some of the librarys special collections available online to the general public. Jingru Hivik (Jingru.Hoivik@nb. no) is a Chief Engineer in The National Library of Norway, Oslo, Norway.

Library Hi Tech News Number 2 2011